Chapter 134 Everything You Have Is Because of Me
"Did you also break your agreement and deliberately leave the prisoner on the battlefield, wanting him dead on purpose?"
Candy never expected Holden's first reaction would be to interrogate her about Zotfort from a year ago instead of caring about her condition. If Frol and his men hadn't given orders, how would she have endured such dark times? Yet her husband, the Holden she loved most, didn't feel sorry for what she'd suffered—he cared more about irrelevant strangers!
Candy already felt that Holden had fallen out of love with her, and now she couldn't help but shout, "So what if I did! I specifically infiltrated the town to capture people, and I deliberately left that bastard on the battlefield. Was I wrong? Frol provoked me and looked down on me first, so why should I do what he asked!"
Holden took a deep breath, his eyes full of pain, barely able to stand steady. "As a knight, you should understand that on the battlefield you must follow the treaties signed by all nations - don't harm innocent civilians, don't involve the elderly, weak, women and children. Don't you understand, it's because you ordered that child to die on the battlefield that Zotfort's army joined the eastern battlefield!"
"Your moment of impulse caused so many people to die for nothing!"
Candy snorted coldly and said dismissively, "Those are all military achievements. I created opportunities for them to go to the battlefield. If they couldn't survive, that's their own lack of ability. What does it have to do with me? Besides, don't give me that look like I'm pure evil. If I hadn't forced Frol to retreat back then, and you received my message to pursue together, you wouldn't have achieved such great merit to become the new leader of the Dawn Knight Order. Holden, everything you have now is because of me!"
Holden met Candy's vicious eyes and felt a chill run through his body, his heart almost stopping.
What he'd always been most proud of was his military achievements in the southern campaign. Holden knew his initial performance was mediocre, and even if he'd luckily become a knight captain, it wouldn't have been enough.
It wasn't until Candy sent him a message telling him to bring troops to a specific location to pursue Zotfort together. Because Zotfort hadn't blown the retreat horn, according to the agreement they could pursue and kill, so Holden chased desperately. Finally, word came from the royal city for him to replace the deceased predecessor and become the new leader of the Dawn Knight Order.
Candy also became the first female knight captain in Soth Empire history because of this.
Holden had always thought this was something he could boast about for a lifetime. But what if this whole thing was dishonorable from the start?
No wonder Zotfort suddenly retreated, then quickly counterattacked. By then Candy had become a knight captain, Lord Daniel was seriously injured and unconscious, and Holden was mainly commanding the southern battlefield. Candy despised Frol and feared he'd come after her because of the child's death, so she refused to charge at the front and risk her life anymore.
Because Candy kept commanding from the rear, Frol planned to gradually withdraw from the southern battlefield, let the Dawn Knight Order return in triumph, and then get reassigned to the eastern battlefield.
Frol was confident - he had arranged everything in advance, and no matter what, he would catch Candy.
But what about Holden?
He stared blankly at Candy, feeling for the first time that she was so unfamiliar. There was a wall between them now, and they could never go back to how things were.
Holden laughed coldly. He was indeed tied to the same boat as Candy, their military achievements interconnected, which was why he'd been willing to give up all his achievements for Candy before, just hoping to be with her.
He thought he'd met the most wonderful woman in the world - brave and fearless, shouldering responsibility, using her sword to protect justice and faith. Where did that Candy go?
Was it all a lie from the beginning?
From start to finish, Candy was just performing an act of being different. Her talk of righteousness was just empty words, her bright and carefree manner just a facade, while her heart was a man-eating viper, dark and terrifying.
Holden's hands dropped powerlessly.
Holden had pulled Candy up, but when he let go, she fell heavily back onto the bed—yet she couldn't care about the pain because she saw his tears falling drop by drop beside her hand.
"Holden... Holden, what's wrong, don't cry..."
Candy reached out to wipe Holden's tears, but he turned away and slumped to the ground, shoulders shaking as he closed his eyes in despair. "You're right, I could become the leader of the knight order because of you. But what does a position obtained this way count for - a joke?"
"Candy, do you know, you didn't just make the eastern battlefield fall into unprecedented difficulty - you also harmed Anne!"
Hearing Anne's name, Candy's face darkened. "I knew it, Holden. That's why you never came to save me - you still can't forget her!"
"Candy, how long are you going to keep suspecting me!"
Holden glared viciously at Candy, as if he might lose control and pounce on her to kill her at any moment. "The Virlet family tragedy a year ago was because of you! You deliberately had someone leave the Clapton family's child on the battlefield. That child's horrible death was blamed on the Virlet family, which is why they were slaughtered by assassins!"
"It was all you. If not for you, Duke Skoda's family wouldn't have encountered such a thing, and Anne wouldn't have lost all her family!"
Candy froze, instinctively shaking her head. "What does it have to do with me? Every grievance has its source, every debt its debtor. If they went after the Virlet family, Anne and her family must have done something shameful. It has nothing to do with me!"
Holden laughed mockingly. "Frol said it himself, and you admitted it too - that child's death was related to you. You caused a family to lose their heir. Those people couldn't find you and had no way to infiltrate the empire's central region, so they could only target Duke Skoda, who also killed Duke Clapton. Candy, I heard it was just a young child. How could you do that to a child? How could you bear it?"
Just thinking about how Candy used to say she loved children most made him feel sick.
"Even if he wasn't a child, the battlefield treaty clearly states you can't harm civilians and prisoners. You vaguely told me before it was an accident, but would you really have an accident?" Holden said through gritted teeth. "I don't believe it."
Candy's tears flowed like a fountain. She shouted in pain, "What did I do wrong? Our Soth Empire and Zotfort were already at war. Their people fell into my hands, and he was a great noble of Zotfort. What's wrong with using him to force Frol to retreat? Wasn't it all for Soth Empire's victory?"